Asthma: The Diet Connection

When our oldest son was six months old, he developed his first of many chest infections and was prescribed the first of many rounds of antibiotics. By the time he was a year and a half, many sleepless nights of coughing and vomiting episodes later, he was diagnosed with asthma. The vicious cycle of doctor visits, antibiotics and asthma medication was already in full circuit.

Our other two children were also diagnosed with asthma and suffered from chronic ear infections by the time they were two. They had tubes surgically inserted into the eardrum to alleviate the infections and drain excess fluid.

All three of our children were breast fed babies so we questioned why they were suffering with asthma and ear infections. We were told that due to a family history of allergies and asthma, and the fact that I had suffered for years with sinusitis, this was hereditary--we would have to learn to deal with it. I even had my own stethoscope to listen to their chests so I would know when to seek medical help!

What people are not told is that the conventional approach to asthma addresses only the symptoms, not the underlying reason, which is usually an exhausted immune system and improper absorption of nutrients from the digestive tract.

The natural approach to asthma or to any disease starts by determining what is causing the illness and how to correct the imbalance that has occurred. That is, how to assist the body to heal itself. In our quest, we were finally directed to Dr William LaValley in Chester, Nova Scotia, who told us that the road to wellness was all in our diet.

A Road To Wellness

Dr LaValley formulated a homeopathic remedy to aid in rebuilding our children’s depleted immune systems. He recommended that the children not be vaccinated again and gave us a list of supplements to use and foods to avoid and those to increase in their daily diets. He also recommended we contact Judith Rajathy, a registered nutritional consultant and author of the best-seller Free To Fly to establish a diet to promote healing and long term health. The journey to wellness had commenced.

Problem foods were identified and Judith explained how to do a rotational diet to eliminate the systemic yeast infection caused by excessive use of prescription drugs. The children were too young to use the traditional approach of caprylic acid, bentonite and psyllium to rid the body of excess yeast. They could not swallow capsules and none would drink a glass containing caprylic acid, bentonite and psyllium!

All foods that tested negatively were eliminated from the diet. Milk and all processed dairy products were at the top of the list of foods to avoid. The milk protein, casein, stimulates the production of mucus in the respiratory tract and the last thing an asthmatic needs is more mucus. Other foods to avoid were all refined sugars, corn, refined white flour, wheat flour in general, peanuts, eggs and meat (especially red meat). If meat was to be eaten, it was to be organic to avoid any hormones and antibiotic residues. All processed foods and food additives (food dyes and preservatives) were eliminated.

Foods to increase included fresh vegetables (organic) and whole grains like spelt flour. We needed to start juicing vegetables and fruits to obtain the enzymes, vitamins and minerals in a quickly absorbable form. Pure water was the beverage of choice to flush out the toxins in the body and decrease mucus in the respiratory tract.

Recommended supplements included a multivitamin/ mineral, buffered vitamin C, organic green barley, enteric-coated garlic, flax oil and acidophilus.

The children started to eat a more varied diet, with the inclusion of more fresh vegetables and cold-water fish, which are high in essential fatty acids, such as mackerel and salmon. Evening primrose oil was added daily as a source of essential fatty acids as well as a broad-spectrum digestive enzyme with every meal to help facilitate the complete breakdown of food.

The candida diet was difficult for the children. They became cranky, tired and whiny as the yeast died off. They did not understand why they were craving sweet things yet were not allowed to have any fruit juices or foods that contained sugar. Their world had been turned upside down. But after the initial die-off of the yeast, the digestive tract started to heal. The kids became happy once again and the health problems started to slowly disappear. Each cold required less intervention with conventional medicines and the ear infections that the younger two had suffered from totally disappeared.

Foods that were once forbidden were slowly reintroduced to test for reactions. We quickly observed that overindulgence in any dairy product increased mucus and our middle child would complain of a sore ear. Now, instead of running to the doctor, we heat up a little olive oil containing chopped-up garlic. A few drops in the ear and the discomfort goes away. We have taken control of our family’s health.